Nationality British Years active 2005–present | Occupation Actor Siblings Mark Warren | |
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Born October 28, 1974 (age 42) ( 1974-10-28 ) Hillingdon, Middlesex, United Kingdom Movies Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Deaths of Ian Stone Similar Philip Claydon, Erik Bauersfeld, Dario Piana, Oliver Parker, James Gunn |
Paul Warren (born October 28, 1974) is a British actor known for roles in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres, often wearing heavy prosthetic makeup and/or creature suits. He is most known for playing 'Varmik' one of the Hassk triplets in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but has also appeared in such films as Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: The Dark World, World War Z and Clash of the Titans.
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Personal life
Paul was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, United Kingdom.
Career
Paul Warren began his film career as a body double for Daniel Radcliffe on the film Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. "I spent much of my time 20ft up in the air on the hydraulic broomstick system and doing other physically demanding activities during the shoot, whilst building a good rapport with the cast/crew and a reputation as a versatile performer".
In 2007, he was recommended to the legendary Stan Winston Studio as a good choice to portray an emaciated version of the title character (played by Mike Vogel) in The Deaths of Ian Stone. Crediting Winston and his team, he said "This door opening into the world of acting under silicone and foam latex, is what ultimately led to a film career playing characters in heavy prosthetics and creature suits".
His first creature performing role was in 2009, where he played a tortured soul, who pulls the boat across the river styx in the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans.
In 2010, Paul was used as a visual effect double for skinny Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger. He was the original template for Skinny Steve in the pre-production VFX head replacement tests and was on set for the recruitment scene as a visual reference. Body double duties for the rest of production (which total about 5% according to director Joe Johnson) went to stage actor Leander Deeny.
On getting the role of Varmik, one of the Hassk triplet's in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he says "By the time they were casting creatures for The Force Awakens, I had already worked with a lot of the people in Star Wars creature shop on films such as Clash of the Titans, Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy, so I was recommended to Neal Scanlan (creature shop supervisor) and joined a core team they were putting together to perform and puppeteer the creatures".
Varmik is of particular interest to Star Wars fans due to his origin. "The character is based on 2 classic pieces of Ralph McQuarrie’s Star Wars production art from 1975. The cantina showdown and early Chewbacca designs. The former is a particular favorite of J.J Abrams’ that he wanted to bring to life on screen."